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Cardinal Mindszenty

"Cardinal Mindszenty" is the title of a letter, co-signed by J.R.R. Tolkien, sent to the editor of The Times (published on 28 January1949; p. 5). The letter, written to protest against the arrest in 1949 of Cardinal József Mindszenty of Hungary, is signed by the Honorary President and nine Honorary Vice Presidents (among which Tolkien is included) of the Newman Association.

The letter appears to have been largely unknown among Tolkien scholars, until it was discovered by Douglas A. Anderson in 2011. Anderson comments that "Tolkien's affiliation with the Newman Society was previously undocumented", and finds it noteworthy that Tolkien during his busy 1940s managed to "volunteer work for the Association devoted to John Henry Newman, founder of the Birmingham Oratory where Tolkien himself had been educated as a boy".[1]